Edit and format data in Google spreadsheets

You can add or edit the text in the cells of a spreadsheet and then add formatting to the text in a number of different ways.

Edit text in a cell

You can either add content to an empty cell in your spreadsheet or edit a cell that already has content.

Add content to an empty cell: Click the cell and start typing.

Edit a cell that already has content: Double-click the cell you want to edit.

Add a line break in a cell

To create a line break within a cell while editing, place your cursor in a cell and press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac). You can use this feature to improve the look of text that requires line breaks, such as addresses.

Format data in a range of cells

You can format data in your spreadsheets in a number of ways using the options in the spreadsheet toolbar.

Some of the key actions you can apply to a cell or multiple cells include:

Changing the number, date or currency format

Changing font size

Adding bold, italics, or strikethrough

Changing color of the text or background color

Adding borders and adjusting border colors, and patterns

Aligning text

Note: To save time on many of these actions, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Y (Cmd + Y on a Mac) to repeat the last action you took in your spreadsheet. This allows you to repeat information over and over again quickly.